Molotov (Quantum 7)

[Moe Lane]

http://moeticae.typepad.com/weblog_l...v-quantum.html

Map here.

Molotov

Joseph Stalin has the status of martyr on this timeline; his convenient death in the Battle of Moscow made up for a multitude of previous sins, at least in the realm of public opinion. His reputation certainly overshadows that of his successor, Vyacheslav Molotov: while Molotov was able to wage the Great Patriotic War competently enough, he was ironically much less able to achieve Soviet postwar diplomatic goals on his own authority than he was as the agent of another's will. The end result is a Central Europe that is a quiet, yet very real, Cold War battleground - one not helped by internal rumblings against Molotov's continuing rule...

Molotov, 1956

Current Affairs
A superficially milder Cold War in Europe threatens to turn hot from Soviet internal tensions.

Divergence Point
1941: Joseph Stalin felled by a bullet during the Battle of Moscow. Vyacheslav Molotov succeeds him, then spends the next five years dealing with the resultant power struggle.

Major Civilizations
Western (Empire with rivals)

Great Powers
People's Republic of China (dictatorship, increasingly feudal, CR2-6), Republic of France (representative democracy, CR4), United Kingdom (representative democracy, CR4), United States of America (representative democracy, CR3), Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (dictatorship, CR5)

Worldline Data
TL: 7
Quantum: 7
Mana Level: low
Centrum Zone: Orange
Infinity Level: P5


It is still unclear which action during the Battle of Smolensk was the triggering action that permitted the Wehrmacht to advance to the actual outskirts of Moscow (as in, one-half mile from Red Square) during the Battle of Moscow; in fact, it is only assumed that the divergence point took place during that first battle. However it occurred, the attackers were well within even short artillery range - and were able to kill Joseph Stalin at some point during the fighting. The "official" date of December 7, 1941 is widely believed to be an attempt at propaganda, although it is admitted that the heaviest artillery attacks took place during that time period. Naturally, the Soviets did not announce the death of the Man of Steel until the next spring, well after Vyacheslav Molotov's taking and first consolidation of power. The new General Secretary did about as well as Stalin did in Homeline; while Molotov was ready to give the armed forces a freer hand, he faced considerably more in the way of long-term dissent than did his predecessor, leaving to a rough balance on the military front.

This unsteadiness at home cost him and his country somewhat when it came to negotiations with the other Allies. While the Tehran Conference (December 1943) achieved most of the USSR's goals, the ones at Tangiers (February 1945) and Potsdam (August 1945) were less satisfactory. The Polish Government-in-Exile was confirmed as the legitimate government of Poland, and the United States and United Kingdoms were able to insist that Czechoslovakia, Austria, and Hungary (the latter two later recombined) be subject to free elections. The Soviet Union was given a free hand in the Balkan and Baltic states, as well as being confirmed in their right to have what would turn out to be significant influence in the above countries, plus Finland and Germany. The postwar map was thus somewhat different than Homeline's: while Germany reunited in 1951, it, Poland, Finland, Czechoslovakia, Albania, and Austria-Hungary (also reunited in 1951, to the pleasure of neither country) had become "social republics:" popularly-elected governments with strong (and Russian-subsidized) Marxist minority (in Albania's case, majority) parties, an initial emphasis on agricultural production over manufacturing, and almost no militaries worth naming. The Balkan states were amalgamated into an outright Marxist People's Slavic Republic: they, along with the Romanians and Balkan states, became part of the Soviet-dominated Sarajevo Pact ostensibly placed in opposition to America/Great Britain's NATO. The Marshall Plan still existed in this timeline, but notably skipped over the Social Republics, due to Russian worries about German reunification making the entire question diplomatically awkward.

Molotov's Central Europe in 1956 is increasingly a hotbed for espionage. While weak militarily, and noticeably less developed than their neighbors to the West, the relatively open economies of the Social Republics have allowed them some recovery. The escalating Cold War has led both NATO and the Sarajevo Pact to encourage industrial and financial development; there is quite a lot of potential money to be made in Germany or Czechoslovakia these days, by both private individuals and governments. The touchy political situation encourages small-scale operations by intelligence agencies; absent an actual NATO/Pact border, there's less perceived need for large scale militaries on the continent, and the recent acquisition of atomic weapons by the Soviet Union has made a conquest of Central Europe suddenly fraught with worry for both sides. Active, deniable spying is thus seen as both safer, and more cost-effective. Elsewhere in the world, African and Asian Communist movements are somewhat less advanced, due to the focus on Europe; the PRC in particular is still engaged in an internal civil war that began when Mao Tse-tung died in 1953. Rumors that the Molotov government had the dictator assassinated are both widespread and true.

Throughout it all, Molotov has stayed in increasingly tenuous control, both helped and hampered by the fact that various elements of the Soviet government have discovered that the current situation allows to them a certain amount of personal enrichment. Although these sorts of things are strictly forbidden to good Marxists, there is a growing current of dissatisfaction (being very carefully led by Nikita Khrushchev) with the Molotov government over what is increasingly being seen as bad postwar decisions in foreign policy. In part to counter this, the Molotov government has been pushing for an expansion of Soviet influence in Europe, with an eye to bringing first the Social Republics, then Italy and Greece, into the Pact. The problem, of course, is that the Social Republics know that a request for military aid will be favorably received by the NATO countries, and have become increasingly expert in playing both sides off of the middle. The Austro-Hungarians in particular are fairly eager to wriggle out of the geopolitical trap that they have found themselves in, and are showing signs of preparing to force the issue...

Outworld Involvement

Molotov, being a Quantum 7 timeline, is of course in Centrum's backyard; Infinity suspects that it and Homeline both discovered it at roughly the same time, which means that the I-Cops actually have a bit of an advantage. While Interworld can field English-speaking agents easily enough, the world is still sufficiently similar to Homeline's history that it's easier for Infinity's agents to both run operations, and detect the anomalies that might suggest Centran interventions. If Infinity can keep Centrum from getting a foothold, the theory goes, Centrum will continue to waste a disproportionate amount of effort on trying to take control the timeline. Whether this theory holds water or not is a subject for quite a few debates, but many Homeline corporations are finding Molotov to be profitable despite its relative distance: the focus on Europe by both power blocs is such that industrial operations in South America or East Asia can be quietly taken over and their end products redirected without anybody noticing. Regular tourism is under-developed, although book tours are actually fairly common: the spy genre is quite popular on Molotov, from Robert Heinlein's blockbuster techno-thrillers to Gregory Corso's poetic retellings of Jacques Lien, suave yet brutal agent of Unione Corse.

[AmesJainchill]

Interesting stuff, as always, Moe Lane.

[Xenarthral]

Questions:
Why People's Slavic Republic instead Yugoslavia (People's Republic of Y.,
Socialist Federal Republic of Y. etc.)?

Why did Finland become a Social Republic instead of remaining the
plain Republic it was before the war (as on Homeline)? Finland does not appear to have done worse than it did in the war on Homeline and, admitting
that Finnish history is not really my area of expertise, USSR's actual influence
over Finland does not appear significantly increased compared to on Homeline.

[Moe Lane]

Originally Posted by Xenarthral

Questions:
Why People's Slavic Republic instead Yugoslavia (People's Republic of Y.,
Socialist Federal Republic of Y. etc.)?

I figured that the Bulgarians complained. :)

Why did Finland become a Social Republic instead of remaining the
plain Republic it was before the war (as on Homeline)? Finland does not appear to have done worse than it did in the war on Homeline and, admitting
that Finnish history is not really my area of expertise, USSR's actual influence
over Finland does not appear significantly increased compared to on Homeline.

Well, Finland was technically an Axis power; Churchill and Roosevelt threw Molotov a bone in exchange for Poland. Besides, there's a sharp lower limit to how badly the USSR does in a post-war European settlement; they were right there, with a honking big army, and they were ******. I'm not an expert on the historical period myself, but the final map looks like about what the Russians could reasonably expect if their emphasis was on keeping the West quiet while the Soviet Union dealt with their internal problems.

That being said, the timeline is for spy adventures, and Finland's got some nice locales for chase scenes. :)

[Xenarthral]

Originally Posted by Moe Lane

I figured that the Bulgarians complained. :)

I somehow managed to miss that Bulgaria was included.
Still I would imagine that, say, the Russians would have opinions regarding
satellites proclaiming themselves The Slavic Ones. Especially since the
Bulgarians are South Slavs and thus technically as eligible to be Yugoslavians
as Macedonians, Serbs, Croats, Slovenians etc.

BTW, didn't the Slovaks complain?

Originally Posted by Moe Lane

Well, Finland was technically an Axis power; Churchill and Roosevelt threw Molotov a bone in exchange for Poland.

But shouldn't Finland then either have become a Soviet Socialist Republic,
like Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania did on Homeline or an "independent"
People's Republic like they did on Molotov?

It seems that the social republics is something like a more widespread Finlandization with demilitarization and stronger local communist parties.

Incidentally, it seems that of the social republics only West Germany and
Austria got/accepted the Homeline Marshall Plan.

Ultimately, it's the term "social republic" and its adoption into
the respective countries' names that bug me. The former because,
well, I can't work out how the term came into being, the second
because I can't work out why they adopted a term that is essentially
shorthand for "neutral democratic states under significant Soviet Union
influence" instead of remaining plain republics.

Oh, and while I'm nitpicking - what happened in North Africa?
Shouldn't at least Algeria be NATO-French green?

[combatmedic]

Looks cool. If I ever run some sort of Infinite Worlds campaign, I'd use this for sure.

[Moe Lane]

Originally Posted by Xenarthral

I somehow managed to miss that Bulgaria was included.
Still I would imagine that, say, the Russians would have opinions regarding
satellites proclaiming themselves The Slavic Ones. Especially since the
Bulgarians are South Slavs and thus technically as eligible to be Yugoslavians
as Macedonians, Serbs, Croats, Slovenians etc.

BTW, didn't the Slovaks complain?

I based that partially on the assumption that Molotov, as a native Russian (and thus not having as bad a case of I'm-as-good-a-Russkie-as-you-are as did the Georgian Stalin) wouldn't be as hard-nosed on that, and partially on the assumption that the People's Slavic Republic sounded like a cool name that wasn't completely outside the realm of possibility.

As for the complaints of the Slovaks: Molotov cared precisely as much as I did when it came time to draw an interesting map of central Europe.

But shouldn't Finland then either have become a Soviet Socialist Republic,
like Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania did on Homeline or an "independent"
People's Republic like they did on Molotov?

Finland, unlike the Slovaks, had it sufficiently together to avoid being eaten. They could also be located on a map by the Western public at the time, which is why they got a deal and the Bulgarians and Romanians didn't.

It seems that the social republics is something like a more widespread Finlandization with demilitarization and stronger local communist parties.

Incidentally, it seems that of the social republics only West Germany and
Austria got/accepted the Homeline Marshall Plan.

Ultimately, it's the term "social republic" and its adoption into
the respective countries' names that bug me. The former because,
well, I can't work out how the term came into being, the second
because I can't work out why they adopted a term that is essentially
shorthand for "neutral democratic states under significant Soviet Union
influence" instead of remaining plain republics.

Pretty much; again, it's all in the name, which you must admit is easier to fit on a map than "neutral democratic states under significant Soviet Union influence," particularly since I'm just using MS Paint. If you need to justify it for your campaign, presume that Molotov hit upon the name to make his people think that this was one step to Socialist Republics, which would be one step from People's. Alternatively, you can cross out the "Social" bit without offending me: I'm not married to it, and it's hardly GURPS canon. :)

Oh, and while I'm nitpicking - what happened in North Africa?
Shouldn't at least Algeria be NATO-French green?

...Stuff. I really didn't get into the post-colonial period, mostly because I'm not entirely sure whether there'd be one.

[Xenarthral]

Originally Posted by Moe Lane

As for the complaints of the Slovaks: Molotov cared precisely as much as I did when it came time to draw an interesting map of central Europe.

Errm... They're still part of the country formerly known as Czechoslovakia.

As for colonies, Morocco and Tunisia both became independent in march 1956
and the Algerian War had been going on since 1954. On Homeline.
The latter might be hard to avoid with a divergence as late as 1941 unless
Someone is up to something.
As it's a cold war spy-themed parallel, Molotov's Tangiers and the
International Zone ought to be interesting too.

By the way, was Korea divided or did Molotov botch that roll as well?

[Moe Lane]

Originally Posted by Xenarthral

Errm... They're still part of the country formerly known as Czechoslovakia.

Yes, but I was already having to put country names elsewhere and draw lines from them to the countries in question. The map was getting a little busy, in other words.

As for colonies, Morocco and Tunisia both became independent in march 1956
and the Algerian War had been going on since 1954. On Homeline.
The latter might be hard to avoid with a divergence as late as 1941 unless
Someone is up to something.
As it's a cold war spy-themed parallel, Molotov's Tangiers and the
International Zone ought to be interesting too.

By the way, was Korea divided or did Molotov botch that roll as well?

All true, and as for Korea, I have no idea. (Shrug) Whichever produces more glamorous, Hapkido-using assassins, I suppose.

[Greystar]

Originally Posted by Moe Lane

Yes, but I was already having to put country names elsewhere and draw lines from them to the countries in question. The map was getting a little busy, in other words.



All true, and as for Korea, I have no idea. (Shrug) Whichever produces more glamorous, Hapkido-using assassins, I suppose.

Then I'd go with saying the There is No North and South Korea or maybe say it was annexed by Communist China (entirely, not just influenced by).